Apparatus for extracting turpentine from wood.



No. 850,098. A PATENTED APR. 9, 1907.

H. RASOHE. APPARATUS FOR EXTRAG'IfING'TURPBNTINE PROM WOOD.

APPLIOATION FILED MAB-.21, 1906.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

HENRY RASOHE, or ALKI POINT, WASHINGTON, ASSIGNOR TO AMERIcAN WOOD EXTRAOT 00., A CORPORATION OF STATE'OF WASHINGTON.

' Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented April 9, 1907.

Application filed March 21, 1906. Serial No. 07,252.

To all whom/it may concern:

Be it known'that I, HENRY RAsoHE, a citizen of the United States, and a resident-of Alki Point, King county, Washington, have shown this retort as having invented certain new and useful Improvements in Apparatus for Extracting Turpentine from Wood, of which the following is a specification. a p

My'nvention relates to an improvement in apparatus for the extraction of turpentine and similar oils from wood in such a-manner that the wood is not injured for any use to which wood is ordinarily put.

The ob'ect of my invention is to improve and simpl ify the processes for the extraction of such oils, and particularly to perform such extraction without injuring the wood.

My invention comprises the novel parts and combinations of parts, which will be here inafter articularly pointed out in the claims.

In .t e accompanying drawing I have shown diagrammatically a form of apparatus now preferred by me for carrying, out my invention.

Inthis drawing, 1 represents a' retort, which may be of any convenient and suitable construction, but should be capable of receiving. cars having thereon the wood to be treated. This wood may be refuse wood or merchant- I able lumber. The latter is the class of wood in the treatment of which my devices may be used with thegreatest advantage. I have three cars in place and a fourth car as outfslde on the track, ready to be run in when needed. These cars rfiaybe made of wood as fully as desired, as the temperatures used are such as will not injure the wood. The material of the retort may also be widely varied, .but should preferably be such that leakage of steam Wlll be cut down to as small a' quantity as possible without incurring undue expense. Absolute tightness is not, however, necessary. By the process employed it is designed to use the steam at atmospheric pressure, so that there is no internal pressure to guard against. In fact,'the steam and distilled vapors. are to be 1 drawn off by suction, so -that the pressure will be very slightly less thanatmospheric.

Any leakage which may occur would therefore be inwardly and not outwardly and would not result in any loss of product.

- The retort should preferably be covered witha layer of heat-insulating material, as.-

3, to prevent excessive radiation of heat. It should also be provided with doors 4 at one or both ends of such size as to ermit passage of the loaded cars 2. These oors need not, however, be steam-tight. They should be made as tight as .is conveniently feasible. The source of ,steam-su ply for use in this retort is immaterial. I ave shown a steamengine 5, the exhaust from which is used for this pur ose. This is a convenient source from which to obtain the steam where, as will often be the case, the extraction plant is erected in connection to a manufacturing lant, as a sawmill. Steam from the engine 1s led through pipe 6 to the retort. This pipe should preferably have a connection, as shown at 7, by which steam may be obtained from another sourceas for instance, from a boiler. superheated it should'not be admitted to the retort without first passing through the superheater, in which it is heated to a temperature ranging from 250 to 300 Fahrenheit. At these temperatures the turpentines are extracted from the wood without-injuring the quality of the wood for any purpose.

The superheater shown consists of a number of coils or manifolds of pipe 8 in a furnace 9. The steam from the engine 5 is passed through this superheater before entering the retort. Valve 22 enables the superheater' to be cut out whenever desired andsteam passed directly to the retort through the pas's-over'pipe 10, which is also provided with a valve 21. ,'This also pro vides a'readymeans of controlling the de cc of superheat which the steam has w en reaching the retort. If the superheat is' Unless this steam. is very much A from 250 to 300 Fahrenheit for a period of from three. to five hours, de ending upon the character of the wood an ieces, at the end of which time itwillf' be ound that the turpentines have been mostly removed from the wood, without, however, injuring the quality of the woody. It is then removed from the retort and dried, or, if desired, the drying may be done in the retort, the same then serving and being treated as an the size of the I with a glass 'sisted. The'result-is'that ordinary dry-kiln. Thisuse is, however, in- -de endent of its use as a retort. I

he vapors of steam'and the'oils extracted are drawn off from the retort through the pipe 11 into the condenser 12,

condensed. This condenser overflows or discharges into a tank 13. A tanks 13,14, 15, and 16 are shown, each rece'iving the overflow from'the preceding one by a trough 17. lighter than water tends to se arate and rise to the top and run off throug the trough 17, while the water settles to the bottom. A bottomoverflow 19, controlled by a valve, is preferably providedfor all the tanks, through whichthe water may be withdrawn either periodically or preferably continuousl by properly throttling the valve. The liquid flowing into tank 13. has been concentrated somewhat and is further concentrated in this tank. The overflow from this tankgoes into the next tank and is 'rthere further concentrated. This process is continueduntil concentration has been carried as far as is feasible. The contents of the last tank will tine. I prefer thatjeach tank be provided gage 18, by which the amount of water and turpentine can be told at any time. The pipe 11,, by which the vapors are 'drawnoff from the retort,is referablyprovided with a fan 20 or e uiva ent device, by which the movement of t e vapors can be asthe pressurein the retort ma lief-kept a 'little below atmos- "pheric. his pressure may be only aver little below atmospheric; but that littlev is sufficient to prevent any escape of the turentine-vapois from the retort-even if'it is ar from being .tight. This feature enables a verycheap construction of the retort to be used.

"The operation of my device is as follows: The cars are loaded with the wood or lumber '8.I1(l run within the retort until it is filled.

The steam is then turned on and the contents subjected to the tern eratures named for 'a period varying from t cc to five hours, afterwhich thelcars areremoved, unless the retort is to be used as a dry-kiln; Thef'vapors are removed by the aid of the fan where they are series of such The turpentines, being .I and of an oily character,

be strong turpenfrom woo and condensed in 'the and then concentrated in the 7 or other suitable devices.

treatment need not exceed that required for kiln drying the lumber, and therefore will not add to the cost. of present recesses.

The apparatus shown in t only diagrammatically represented and may be widely varied in its constructive details.

Having thus described my invention, what claim is 1. 'An apparatus for producing turpentine from wood comprising a source of steam,

means for superheating the steam to a tem-' perature of from 250 Fahrenheit,' up, when at atmospheric pressure, means for mixing therewith steam of. a lower temperature, a retort for containing the wood being treated and receiving the superheated steam, means for drawing off the va ors from the retort and thereby keeping t e pressure substan'-. tially at atmospheric, and means for condensing said vapors.

2. An apparatus for extracting turpentine from wood comprising a retort adapted to receive the wood to be treated, a source of steam at substantiall atmospheric pressure, a superheater throng which the steam may; be passed before entering the-retort, a by pass by which the steam may be introduced within the retort without going through the superheater, a positive; suction device for withdrawing the vapors from the retort to thereby prevent their rise above atmospheric pressure, andmeans for condensing said vapors. 3. An turpentine apted to recars for receiving'the wood apparatusfor extracting comprlslng a retort a ceive loaded cars, and eiiteringsaid substantially atmospheric pressure, a super? heater for said steam before' entering the re-- tort, a by pass-about said superheater, a'positi've suction device for drawing the vapors from said retort and means for condensing said vapors.

In testimony.

e drawing is retort, a source of steam at whereof I have hereunto affixed my signature, this 2d day of February,

1906, in the presence oftwowltnesses.

HENRY"RASOHE. Witnesses:

THhoBALD BUoKrNeER, WILLIAM Hna'rz'. 

